[1744] "Bhikkhus, suppose this great earth had become one mass of water, and a man were to throw into it a yoke with a single hole. The east wind would carry it to the west; the west wind would carry it to the east; the north wind would carry it to the south; the south wind would carry it to the north. And there a blind turtle, which would rise to the surface once at the end of every hundred years. What do you think, bhikkhus: would that blind turtle, rising to the surface once at the end of every hundred years, insert its neck into that yoke with a single hole?"
"It would be by sheer chance, venerable sir, that the blind turtle, rising to the surface once at the end of every hundred years, would insert its neck into that yoke with a single hole."
"By sheer chance likewise, bhikkhus, does one obtain the human state. By sheer chance likewise, bhikkhus, does a Tathāgata arise in the world, an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One. By sheer chance likewise, bhikkhus, does the Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by a Tathāgata shine in the world. And now, bhikkhus, this human state has been obtained; a Tathāgata has arisen in the world, an Arahant, a Perfectly Enlightened One; and the Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathāgata shines in the world. Therefore, bhikkhus, an effort should be made [to understand]: 'This is suffering (dukkha)' … an effort should be made [to understand]: 'This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering.'"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.